Mobile mining roof support and conveyor



A ril 15, 1969 HANS-JOAQCHIM VON HlPPEL 3,433,210

MOBILE MINING ROOF SUPPORT AND CONVEYOR Filed March 22, 1967 Sheet 1 of 4 Aprll 15, 1969 HANS-JOACHIM VON HIPPEL. 3,433,210

MOBILE MINING ROOF SUPPORT AND CONVEYOR Sheet 2 of 4 Filed March 22, 1967 &

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A ril 15, 1969 HANS-JOACHIM VON HIPPEL 3,438,210

MOBILE MINING ROOF SUPPORT AND CONVEYOR Filed March 22, 1967 Sheet 3 of 4 Inventor" Han! adv M yd rmdawm M,

April 1969 HANS-JOACHIM VON HIPPEL 3,438,210

MOBILE MINING ROOF SUPPORT AND CONVEYOR Filed March 22, 1967 Sheet 4' of 4 Ln LI Inventor.-

United States Patent 3,438,210 MOBILE MINING ROOF SUPPORT AND CONVEYOR Hans-Joachim Von Hippel, 12 Muhlenlramp 4628, Lunen, Westphalia, Germany Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 575,995,

Aug. 30, 1966. This application Mar. 22, 1967, Ser.

Int. 'Cl. E2161 15/45; E2lc 29/00 US. CI. 6145 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The evacuating conveyor of a mining apparatus is movable toward the mine face of an underground excavation by a so-called walking mine roof support which includes roofand floor-engaging members connected to each other by one or more extendable pit props. Each member is provided with a pair of advancing units which can move it stepwise and with anchoring units which can immobilize the respective member by bearing against the mine roof or mine floor. The evacuating conveyor is coupled to or is permanently connected with the floorengaging member.

Cross-reference to related application This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 575,995, filed Aug. 30, 1966, now US. Patent 3,372,551.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to mining apparatus in general, and more particularly to improvements in mining apparatus of the type wherein an elongated material evacuating conveyor is movable stepwise toward the mine face to collect material which has been removed from the mine face by a suitable tool. Still more particularly, the invention relates to a mobile or self-propelling mining apparatus wherein the evacuating conveyor is movable stepwise by one or more so-called walking mine roof supports which can advance the conveyor and simultaneously serve as a means for propping the mine roof.

An important object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple, rugged, compact and reliable mining apparatus wherein the material evacuating conveyor can be moved stepwise by a structure which simultaneously props the mine roof, not only when the conveyor dwells between successive stepwise advances but also while the conveyor is being actually shifted toward the mine face.

Another object of the invention is to provide the mining apparatus with one or more so-called walking mine roof supports which can properly anchor and locate the evacuating conveyor in such a way that the conveyor is invariably held against any undesired displacement with reference to the mine face, even if the mine floor is inclined or if the mine roof and/or mine fioor is full of holes, protuberances and other unevennesses.

A further object of the instant invention is to provide a mining apparatus wherein the material evacuating conveyor may be shifted and anchored by resorting to one, two or more identical walking mine roof supports.

An additional object of the instant invention is to provide a walking mine roof support which may be utilized in a mining apparatus of the above outlined character.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide a mining apparatus wherein a single prime mover or aggregate suffices to actuate the movable parts of two or more walking mine roof supports.

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Summary of the invention Briefly stated, one feature of my invention resides in the provision of a mobile or self-propelling mining apparatus which can be used in mining galleries and other underground excavations to remove material from a mine face. The apparatus comprises a first component constituted by a material evacuating conveyor which extends along the mine face and is movable stepwise toward such face by distances corresponding to the thickness of layers removed from such face by planning or analogous material removing machines of known design. The second important component of the mining apparatus is constituted by one or more walking mine roof supports which are coupled to the conveyor in such a way that they can transport it sideways. Each walking mine roof support comprises a floor engaging member, a roof engaging member, at least one pit prop of variable length connected with the two members, upper and lower advancing means provided on the respective members for advancing them stepwise, preferably in a direction exactly or substantially at right angles to the plane of the mine face, and one or more anchoring units provided on each member to hold the respective member agaist any displacement during certain stages of operation of the advancing means. Each of the floorand roof-engaging members is preferably provided with one or more coupling devices which may be used to connect it to the evacuating conveyor and/or to the corresponding member of an adjoining walking mine roof support.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved mining apparatus itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of a mining apparatus which embodies one form of my invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of a walking mine roof support substantially as seen in the direction of the arrow P in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the floor engaging member in the mine roof support of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevational view of a second mining apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic end elevational view of the second mining apparatus.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a mobile mining apparatus which comprises a material evacuating conveyor 1. The upper run of the conveyor 1 is arranged to evacuate coal or other material in the direction indicated by an arrow S. Such material is caused to drop at the discharge end 1 of the conveyor 1 and is thereupon ad vanced by an endless belt or another suitable take-off conveyor (not shown) which travels in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the evacuating con veyor 1. The latter preferably comprises two chains which are trained around suitable sprockets (one such sprocket is located at the discharge end 1') and carry aprons which form a continuous supporting surface for material which is being removed from the mine face 2. The machine for removing material from the face 2 comprises a reciprocable shaving or planing tool 3 having two cutting edges 3 and drive means for moving the shaving tool 3 in and counter to the direction indicated by arrow S. After each stroke of the tool 3, the conveyor 1 must be advanced by a step in the direction indicated by an arrow P, namely, substantially at right angles to the mine face 2. The tool 3 is reciprocable along the supporting frame for the conveyor 1 in a manner not forming part of the present invention. The drive means for the tool 3 is shown at 4, and a second drive means 4' rotates the sprocket at the discharge end 1 of the evacuating conveyor 1. The numerals 5 denote metallic braces which extend between the mine roof and mine floor to prevent cave-in. It will be seen that the evacuating conveyor 1 extends across the plane of the braces 5 and that the mine face 2 and the aforementioned take-off conveyor are located at the opposite sides of such plane.

The means for advancing the evacuating conveyor 1 sideways, i.e., at right angles to the mine face 2, comprises three advancing assemblies A, A, A each of which constitutes a so-called walking mine roof support. The three supports are of identical construction and each thereof can perform a plurality of functions, namely, it can prop the roof of the underground excavation to prevent cave-in, it anchors the evacuating conveyor 1 in requisite position when the conveyor dwells between successive stepwise advances, and it can also advance the conveyor 1 stepwise toward the mine face 2. Satisfactory anchoring of the conveyor 1 is of particular importance if the floor of the underground excavation is inclined, for example, if the mine floor slopes downwardly in the direction indicated by arrow S. Such anchoring is further necessary because the tool 3 tends to shift the conveyor 1 in or counter to the direction indicated by arrow S when its cutting edges 3 remove material from the face 2. The supports A and A are coupled directly to the rear side of the conveyor 1, i.e., to that side which faces away from the mine face 2. The third support A" is coupled to and is located behind the support A.

Each of the supports A, A, A comprises a floor engaging member or sole 6, a roof engaging member or cap 6, and a preferably inclined variable-length pit prop 11 whose upper and lower end portions are articulately connected to the respective members 6' and 6. The members 6 and 6 extend in parallelism with the evacuating conveyor 1 and each thereof is provided with two pairs of coupling devices 7. Such coupling devices can be used to connect the supports to each other (as shown for the supports A and A), as well as to connect the supports to the conveyor 1 (see the connections between the conveyor 1 and the supports A, A). The number of walking mine roof supports which are used in connection with an evacuating conveyor 1 will depend on the overall length of the conveyor, on the depth of cuts formed by the cutting edges 3 of the tool 3, on the inclination of the underground excavation, and on the force which the supports can generate in order to anchor the conveyor in requisite position adjacent to the mine face 2.

The numeral 8 denotes a hydraulic prime mover or aggregate which is utilized to change the length of the props 11 and to operate several advancing and anchoring means on each of the members 6 and 6. This aggregate 8 comprises basically a hydraulic pump, a tank or another suitable source of oil or other hydraulic pressure medium, and a system of valves which regulate the flow of pressure medium from the pump to various hydraulic cylinder and piston means on the mine roof supports A, A and A". In the illustrated embodiment, the aggregate 8 is detachably connected to the rear coupling devices 7 of the rearmost support A" and is provided with a yieldably mounted rail 9 which is slidable along the braces 5.

FIG. 1 further shows a connecting element in the form of a plate 10 which extends forwardly of the evacuating conveyor 1 and is coupled with a fourth walking mine roof support A. The floorand roof-engaging members 6, 6 of the support A" extend at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 1. This support can be used to assist the supports A, A, A" in properly anchoring the conveyor 1 as WCll as in effecting stepwise movements of the conveyor toward the mine face 2. As will be explained hereinafter, the advancing means of each mine roof support are preferably constructed and assembled in such a way that they can change the direction of move ment of the respective members 6 or 6 so that the sup port A'" can assist the supports A* in advancing the conveyor 1 even though its members 6 and 6 extend at right angles to the conveyor. The support A" is indicated by dotted lines because it is not indispensable for proper operation of the mining apparatus.

The details of the advancing and anchoring means on the members 6 and 6' of the mine roof support A are illustrated in \FIGS. 2 and 3. The convex lower end portion of the prop 11 is free to swivel in a concave socket 12 provided in the central portion of the floor engaging member 6 and its upper end portion is mounted in the central portion of the roof engaging member 6- in similar fashion. The support A may comprise two or more pit props 11 without departing from the spirit of my invention. The anchoring means on the lower member 6 of the support A comprises two cylinders 13 which preferably form integral parts of the member 6 and are provided at the opposite sides of the prop 11. Each of these cylinders 13 accommodates a vertically reciprocable cupped piston or ram .14 which is coupled to the member 6 by one or more helical contraction springs 16 so that it normally tends to assume an idle or raised position and to thereby lift its teeth .15 above the mine floor. When the aforementioned valve system of the aggregate 8 admits hydraulic pressure medium in the chambers of the cylinders 13, such medium overcomes the bias of the springs 16 and moves the teeth into engagement with the mine floor so that the member 6 is held against any movement if the prop 11 is extended by simultaneous admission of pressure medium into a cylinder chamber provided in the interior of the prop. The manner in which a pit prop can be extended and contracted is fully disclosed in my aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 575,995. FIG. 2 illustrates both rams 14 in operative positions in which these rams prevent displacement of the floor engaging member 6.

The member 6 of the support A further comprises or carries two advancing units C which are disposed at its ends, i.e., the anchoring units including the cylinders 13 are disposed between the two advancing units C. The construction of the units C is analogous to that of various advancing units which are disclosed in my application Ser. No. 575,995. Each such unit includes a floor-engaging plate or slide '17 whose underside is provided with teeth 18 adapted to penetrate into the mine floor when the pit prop 11 is held in extended position. The slide 17 is reciprocable at right angles to the plane of FIG. 2 and is provided with ribs 21 extending into complementary grooves 22 machined into a carriage turnably mounted at the respective end of the member 6. The carriage 20 has a cylindrical projection 23 extending into an annular portion 23 of the member 6. Antifriction rolling elements 19 are disposed between the carriage 20 and slide 17 at both sides of each rib 21 so that the carriage can travel with reference to the slide, or vice versa, with a minimum of friction. The steering or direction changing means for each unit C comprises a double-acting hydraulic cylinder 24 which is articulately connected to the member 6 or to one of the coupling devices 7 by a vertical pivot pin 25. The piston rod 26 of the cylinder 24 is articulately connected to the carriage 20 by a second vertical pivot pin 27. If the cylinder 24 receives pressure medium from the aggregate 8, it either expels or retracts the piston rod 26 whereby the projection 23 turns in the annular portion 23 of the member 6 and changes the inclination of the ribs 20 with reference to the evacuating conveyor 1. The angle alpha shown in FIG. 3 indicates the manner in which the unit C can turn about the axis of the projection 23 in response to expulsion or retraction of the piston rod 26.

The carriage 20 supports two further double-acting cylinders 28 whose piston rods 30 are connected to lugs 29 at the rear or trailing end of the slide 17. The aggregate 8 can admit pressure medium to each of the two chambers in each cylinder 28 whereby the slide 17 moves forwardly (arrow -P in 'FIG. 2) or the carriage 20 advances away from the lugs 29. The pins 31 serve as a means for articulately connecting the piston rods 30 with the respective lugs 29. It is clear that the rolling elements '19 can be omitted or that they may be replaced by other types of friction reducing means. For example, the entire upper side of the slide 17 may be in sliding contact with the underside of the carriage 20. The abutting surfaces of the parts 17, 20 are preferably lubricated, either regularly or at required intervals.

The roof engaging member 6 is similar to or identical with the member 6 and also carries two anchoring units and two advancing units C. The construction of these units is the same as that of the corresponding units which are provided on the floor engaging member 6, and the parts of such units are denoted by similar reference characters.

The operation of the mine roof support A is as follows:

In order to fixedly hold the evacuating conveyor 1 immediately in front of the mine face 2, the aggregate 8 admits pressure medium to the prop 11 so that the latter extends and biases the members 6 and 6 against the floor and roof of the underground excavation. The chambers of the cylinders 13 are sealed from the pressure side of the pump so that the springs 16 are free to contract and retract the rams 14 into the respective cylinders 13. In other words, the teeth .15 of the rams 14 are held away from the mine roof and mine floor but the teeth 18 of the slides 17 penetrate into the adjoining material and anchor the mining apparatus against any movement. If the operators wish to advance the conveyor 1 toward the mine face 2, the aggregate 8 admits pressure medium into the rear chambers of the cylinders 28 (i.e., into the upper chambers, as viewed in FIG. 3, because the conveyor 1 is shown at a level below the member 6), whereby the carriages 20 move forwardly (arrow P) and advance the members 6, 6 together with the conveyor 1 which is thus shifted nearer to the mine face 2 by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the layer removed by one of the cutting edges 3 on the tool 3.The slide 17 of each advancing unit C or C remains stationary and bears against the adjacent material. Upon completed stepwise advance of the conveyor 1, the operators admit pressure medium into the cylinders 13 of the anchoring units so that the pressure medium expels the rams 14 against the opposition of springs 16 whereby the teeth of rams 14 penetrate into the adjacent material and relieve the pressure upon the slides 17 of the advancing units C and C. In the next following step, the operators admit pressure medium to the front chambers of the cylinders 28 so that the piston rods 30 are retracted and advance the slides 17 toward the mine face 2.

The steering cylinders 24 will be actuated if the operators wish to change the direction of advance of the conveyor .1 so that this conveyor will have a component of movement toward the mine face 2 and a component of movement in or counter to the direction indicated by arrow S. By placing the ribs 21 of the slides 17 at an acute or obtuse angle with reference to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 1, the operators can enhance or reduce the anchoring action, for example, if the conveyor 1 is not located in a horizontal plane.

When the operators admit pressure medium into the cylinders 13, the length of the prop 11 decreases slightly so that the teeth 18 are moved away from engagement with the adjoining material of the mine roof and mine floor. This allows for displacement of the slides 17 relative to the carriages 20 by exertion of a relatively small force. FIG. 2 shows the lower member 6 in firm engagement with the mine floor but the rams 14 of the roof engaging member 6 are retracted from the roof so that the anchoring action is produced solely by the teeth 18 in response to pressure transmitted by the expanded prop 11. When the tool 3 performs a working stroke, the aggregate 8 may admit pressure medium to the prop 11 and also to the cylinders 13 so that the teeth 15 cooperate with the teeth 18 and hold the members 6, 6 in finm engagement with the mine roof and mine floor.

As stated before, and as shown in FIG. 2, the axis of the prop 11 is preferably inclined with reference to a vertical line extending between the roof and the floor of the underground excavation.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown a modified mining apparatus including a floor engaging member 101 and a roof engaging membe 101A. The material evacuating conveyor 1A extends across and is preferably built into the floor engaging member 10. The arrow P indicates the direction in which the conveyor 1A may be advanced stepwise toward the mine face which is located to the left of the members 101. 101A. as viewed in FIG. 4. The apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5 comprises two pit props which are located at the opposite sides of the conveyor 1A.

Each of the members 101, 101A is provided with two advancing units 102 and with two anchoring units 102' which are located between the respective advancing units. In contrast to the advancing units C and C, the units 102 are arranged to advance the members 101, 101A lengthwise, i.e., again in such a way that the conveyor 1A is moved sideways as indicated by the arrow P. The construction of the units 102 is analogous to that of the units C, C with the exception that the double-acting cylinders corresponding to cylinders 28 of FIG. 3 extend lengthwise of rather than across the floorand roofengaging members. One row of antifriction rolling elements is shown at 103 in the upper lefthand portion of FIG. 4.

When the mining apparatus of FIGS. 4 and 5 is stationary, the units 102, 102a are preferably held in engagement with the adjoining material to prevent any displacements of the evacuating conveyor 1A. If the conveyor 1A is to be moved toward the mine face (arrow P), the teeth of advancing units 102 remain engaged but the anchoring units 102 are caused to retract their teeth. Each unit 102 is movable up and down in its entirety and these units are moved into engagement with the mine roof and mine floor before the units 102 are retracted. The units 102 are further turnable about vertical axes so that they can advance the conveyor 1A lengthwise or at right angles to the direction in which the conveyor 1A evacuates coal or other material which has been removed from the mine face.

When the conveyor 1A has been advanced by a step, the anchoring units 102' are extended and the advancing units 102 are retracted. The slide of each unit 102 is then moved relative to its carriage, or vice versa, so that the apparatus is ready to advance the conveyor 1A again as soon as the teeth of the units 102 return into engagement with the mine roof and mine floor.

FIG. 5 shows that the axes of the advancing units 102 and anchoring units 102' are inclined with reference to the vertical line representing the shortest distance between the mine roof and mine floor. The inclination is selected in such a way that the stresses transmitted by the units 102 and/ or 102 are felt in a direction which coincides with the direction of the resultant of forces transmited by the props 100 and the conveyor 1A. This insures that the units 102, 102 are only subjected to axial stresses.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of my contribution to the art and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

1. A mobile mining apparatus for use in underground excavations to remove material from a mine face and to support the roof of the excavation comprising, in combination, at least one walking mine roof support including an elongated sole member, an elongated cap member, variable-length prop means extending between said members and supporting said cap member on said sole member upwardly spaced from the latter, upper and lower anchoring means respectively carried by said sole and said cap members and movable in substantially vertical direction with respect thereto between an idle and an engaged position and respectively engaging in said engaged position the floor respectively the roof of the excavation, upper and lower advancing means respectively carried by said sole and said cap members movable transverse to the elongation of said members and also in substantially vertical direction to be respectively pressed against the sole respectively the roof of the excavation and be moved out of engagement therewith for advancing said members stepwise in direction substantially normal to the mine face, and means for operating said anchoring means and said advancing means independent from each other; and a material evacuating conveyor operatively connected to and movable with said sloe member, said conveyor extending substantially normal to said advancing direction.

2. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said upper and lower advancing means comprises a plurality of advancing units.

3. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said advancing means comprises steering means for changing the direction of stepwise movement of said members.

4. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said advancing means is arranged to transmit stresses between the adjoining material of the excavation and the respective member in a direction which is inclined with reference to said prop means.

5. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said prop means comprises at least one hydraulic pit prop whose axis is inclined with reference to a vertical line extending between the floor and roof of the underground excavation.

6. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, and in cluding biasing means connected to said anchoring means and tending to maintain the latter in said idle position.

7. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said conveyor extends transversely across said sole member.

8. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein said conveyor is built into said sole member and said prop means comprises a pair of props disposed at the opposite sides of said conveyor.

9. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said upper and lower advancing means cornprises two spaced advancing units respectively substantially symmetrically arranged with respect to said prop means.

10. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 9, wherein each of said upper and lower anchoring means comprises two anchoring units arranged between the respective advancing units.

11. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising coupling means provided on at least one of said members.

12. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein at least said sole member is provided with leading and trailing coupling devices by means of which said sole member is connectable with the sole members of additional walking mine roof supports.

13. A mining apparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein said coupling means connects said sole member with said conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,376,707 4/1968 Dommann 6145 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,161,226 1/1964 Germany.

ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 29932 

